


Getting Paid

by TBCat



Series: Pointy Ears, Dull Swords, and Other Surprises [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Pre-Relationship, basically but not really a DnD au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-01 19:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19184470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TBCat/pseuds/TBCat
Summary: Killing a terrible beast is easy, but getting paid for the job is much harder.





	Getting Paid

**Author's Note:**

> June is Jun's month, so how could I not post this? The work is more organic than my usual style, but I felt very comfortable with both the world and the setting, so...
> 
> Enjoy!

Adventuring is hard. Well, the actual adventures are fairly easy, in Jun's humble opinion. Getting paid for exploring, recovering treasure, solving mysteries, and defeating monsters is the actual hard part. 

"Honestly!" Hoshi continues arguing, "We wiped out the Cockatrice Nest on the way into the city, out of the goodness of our hearts, and it's the least you could do to give us the bounty for it!" Hoshi is usually amiable, but one of the feathery chicken-dragons burned Dino's arm. Dino shows off the wound pitiable in time to his older brother's words.

The guard is unsympathetic. "The bounty specifically asks for proof of death," she says, "And you expect me to take a handful of feathers instead." Jun sidles out of view and tries to see if he can read the log book of previous claimed bounties upside down.

"Look!" the guard snaps irritably, "I can't do anything for you, but if your that stubborn about it you can argue your case in front of the prince!" Dino slips his arm out of its sling to grab Hoshi by the mouth and pull him backwards. Jun is pleased that his potion worked so quickly!

"That's perfect, thanks!" Dino calls, "We'll head to City Hall now. Come on, Jun." The strength with which he drags Hoshi justifies the double-sided axe strapped to his back. Jun skips after them, wiggling his fingers at the irritable guard in a goodbye 'wave'. 

On the street outside Hoshi slips out of Dino's grip with a pout. Jun pushes in between them and slings an arm over their shoulder. "I'm confused," he asks, "I thought your prince lived in the Capital?"

Dino answers, "That's the first prince. Currently, there are, what, seventeen princes in line for the throne? And that's not even the entire line of succession." Jun's face makes Hoshi break into laughter as his mood switches back to joviality. "Anyway, favored members of the royal family are often granted different sizes of land to practice governing over in the emperor's name," Dino continues, "It makes the laws a little messy, though."

Jun hums consideringly. "So who's this prince, then?" he asks.

Dino is obviously stumped trying to remember. "The eighth," Hoshi interrupts with a smirk, "Minghui, or something."

"And they are just gonna be hanging out in City Hall for anyone that wants to talk to them?" Jun asks.

"Not necessarily, but it is expected for the local power to be available for some amount of time each day in case of an audience," Hoshi explains, "like us."

Jun accepts the explanation and tries to stick out a foot to trip Hoshi. Hoshi jumps over his leg and pushes him so that he crashes against Dino. In turn, Dino trips and falls in a clatter of scavenged armor and curses. Jun gasps. "Dino! Who taught you that kind of language?" he asks. Hoshi pretends to cry over the corruption of his little brother.

Dino pouts and glares up at them. "You two," he blames for his cursing. Dino is impressively smooth at shifting his weight to stand up under his armor and weapons. Jun sniffs defensively and brushes a piece of ash from the cockatrice battle off of his cloak. Hoshi pretends to blow his nose on the fabric of his thin shirt.

"Please," says a tired voice, "show some respect. This is a government building." Jun looks curiously at the dead eyed guard standing to the side, and the building behind him. City Hall is marked by a worn down, wooden sign. The building itself is a serious, defensible stone building. It is surrounded by a low wall decorated with colorful, abstract murals. Jun tries to bend over to see if one mural is a sleeping vampire or a seductive gumiko. Hoshi grabs neck of his cloak and hauls him upright. 

"We need an audience with the Prince, please," Hoshi says as the default leader, "concerning our claim to the Cockatrice Bounty."

The guard looks at them. Jun is a little worried that his eyes look so despairing, but he waves them forward. "Just remember," the guard says, "It don't matter if he's half-elf; treat the prince with respect." Jun turns wide eyes to Hoshi and Dino for confirmation. They nod, and Dino whispers the rumors about the emperor's affair that led to a half-elf Prince. Jun checks that his knit cap is secure and bounces in nervous excitement. 

They are let in and led down a short hallway to a large sized receiving room. Sitting in a simple but well made wooden chair across from the door is, presumably, the prince. His posture is perfect and his outfit is carefully composed to balance power and approachability. His black hair is a shaggy mullet that barely covers the inhuman length of his ears. Jun watches the Prince smile and the bob of his throat as he swallows before speaking; "You wished to speak about the Cockatrice Bounty?"

Jun steps forward before Hoshi can. "We exterminated the Cockatrice Nest to the West of the city," Jun says with a smile as Dino and Hoshi hide their surprise, "but the Militia Building insisted that they were unable to give us the bounty for the job."

The eighth prince raises an eyebrow. "Do you have proof that you killed them?" he asks. 

"Only a small collection of feathers," Jun happily admits, pulling the evidence out of one of the many pockets on his belt.

"That isn't sufficient."

"I always tell the truth," Jun says sweetly. His big eyes and greasy grin fall flat at the prince's feet. "but if you don't believe me, maybe you can just come see the nest for yourself?"

"Uh, Jun," Dino tries to whisper, "What are you saying? Having to safely escort a prince isn't worth the bounty." His voice carries easily across the empty room and the prince's considering silence.

"It's only a day there and back," Jun says flippantly. He raises a hand to hide his mouth; his words to Dino are obvious as he says, "The last four bounties were turned in by Xu Minghao, so he probably won't be any trouble."

"Since you obviously know who I am," the prince says firmly, "would you please introduce yourselves now?"

Hoshi steps forward. "What time is it?" he calls cheerfully.

"Ten O'Clock," Dino mutters while Jun cheerfully answers the prompt. Hoshi frames his eyes and smiles cheesily.

"Adventure Brigade Ten, at your service!" Hoshi announces. "I'm  Namyangju Expert Kwon Hoshi, this is Namyangju Priest Kwon Dino, and this is our companion the Sorcerer Wen Junhui," he introduces. The trio give a carefully rehearsed, synchronized bow. Jun magics up some low key sparkles to accompany their introduction. 

"A close-range fighter, an armed healer, and a magic caster," the prince analyzes, "claim to have defeated a Nest of at least three Cockatrice on their own?" They nod. "And when unable to procure proof, they suggest that I, the Prince, accompany them to said Nest," Minghao asks, "without any suspicion of a blatant, transparent assassination attempt."

"Who wants you assassinated?" Everyone in the room gives Jun a look for the question. He pouts, rolls his eyes, and lets it go. "I only speak the truth," Jun says seriously. He lets power bleed into his voice as he begins the incantation. 

"I swear on my magic,  my life, and my blood  that until our task is done,  Our lives are tied,  my health and mind,  dependent on your safe return."

Dino wacks Jun across the back of his head. The guards have drawn their weapons and aimed them at Jun. The prince is half out of his chair and peering curiously at Jun with a hastily retrieved pair of spectacles. 

"Stand down," the prince waves off the guards absent-mindedly. "Binding magic is rare, mostly due to the lack of benefits for the caster," he mutters. He takes a single step towards Jun. "Interesting." Jun smiles and checks that his hat is pulled down securely. Then he pats his braid nervously. The prince stands with perfect, trained posture. He impossibly straightens and waves imperiously. "I accept your plan," the prince says with complete confidence that his will be done. "I am Imperial College Wizard Xu Minghao. Please take care of me." The magic hooks into Jun's gut with a jerk at Minghao's acceptance. He feels his heart skip a beat, and then reorient to beat in time with Minghao's. 

"Sir,"

"Guan Yue is in charge. I don't need a guard," Minghao interrupts the guard that speaks up. Jun skips forward and grabs his forearm to pull him out the door. 

"If we leave now we can reach the Nest by sundown!" 

The city is surrounded by carefully engineered plots of farmland. A raised aquifer stretches out to the East. Hoshi takes the lead to retrace their steps towards the northwest, where the arable land transitions to forested hills and sudden small cliff drops. Through a small section of twisted old growth a sudden cliff drops into a deeper valley dotted with small caves. The twilight paints the scenery in cool colors.

"So do you speak elvish," Jun asks as Hoshi carefully talks each member through the handholds necessary to scale down a section of collapsed rockface. Dino almost slips in surprise. Minghao flicks a smattering of harmless magical sparks at Jun. "It's just common knowledge, I guess, that your half-elf," Jun explains.

"You guess?" Minghao asks sardonically. He brushes back his loosely bound black hair to tug at the points of his ears. Jun waits for his answer expectantly. "Yes.  _ Yes, fluently. _ "

Jun lights up happily and claps his hands. " _ Where was your, uh, Mother, where was she from? Have you visited? What's your favorite food?"  _ Jun lets loose a stream of unimportant questions that he intends to memorize the answer to. Its joyous and relieving to hear the ringing syllables of his home language once more. The Human Empire is so strictly xenophobic. 

Minghao stares. Dino drops the last 20 centimeters to collapse at Hoshi's feet, who has gone slack with surprise. Jun waits for an answer in confusion for a handful of seconds. Then he blushes and untucks his ears from his hat. He adjusts his braid and rubs the circulation back into the tips of his ears as they point out in the obvious length of a full-blooded elf. 

"You." Minghao stutters. His confident, flowing speech is stilted for once. He clears his throat. "I'll answer your questions after-" he says, "if we find the proof we are looking for." He turns and briskly sets of deeper into the valley. Jun moves to follow him before he is grabbed and pulled back by his hair. 

"What! You!" Dino stutters. "Why bother slogging through quests with us? Elves are supposed to be rich, and elegant, and refined, and graceful, and-"

"Snobby," Hoshi interrupts. He looks hurt. 

"You don't think I'm graceful and elegant?" Jun tries to joke. It falls flat. "I've never lied to you," he says seriously, "But the Empire has very clear policies regarding the treatment of sentient non-humans, and." Jun doesn't know how to finish his sentence. Hoshi softens in understanding, but the hurt is still obvious in his eyes. 

"The Elven borders are secure," Dino says quietly. Technically, the Elven borders don't exist in the Human sense, but Jun doesn't bother explaining that the Elven and Fae territories are an overlapping plain of existence that intersect with the Human one. 

"It's complicated," Jun says after some consideration, "and I have a lot of reasons for both being here and finally revealing my race." Dino seems ready to press Jun for more answers. Instead, Hoshi's hand on his elbow causes Dino to grudgingly accept Jun's words. "I'm not quite done serving in Brigade Ten," Jun asserts, "and I refuse to ever give up on our friendship."

Jun jogs lightly to catch up with Minghao. The group walks in thoughtful, electric silence. 

Adventure Brigade Ten found the trio of Cockatrice in a cave system. The entrance is a squashed hole about the width of two carts and the height of a single man. Inside, the cave opens into a shallow cavern studded with both stalactites and stalagmites. Jun can smell a water but the group never ventured deep enough into the cave system to find the source. The feathered serpents fought with limited cohesion, but great strength and natural defenses. Jun carefully steps over a stray piece of rubble that remains from a stalagmite he had dodged behind in the battle. Three carcasses lay untouched and bloody across the cave floor. Minghao stares wide eyed for a minute before stepping deeper into the cave 

Jun helpfully sends a witchlight to hover above each of their heads. Hoshi has grabbed Dino and forced him to wait near the mouth of the cave. Jun follows Minghao and looks across the battlefield with fresh eyes. He can feel a flush of adrenaline from remembering the danger of this space, but with light above him and a lack of present danger he has new observations. Rock formations that processed as tactical advantages are now both interesting natural sights and a potential twisted ankle. The collection of bats roosting above them seems new, even though Jun can tell from the guano under his feet that they have lived in the cave for generations. Minghao casts a perception spell, and Jun curiously notes the differences in their casting languages and ritual foci. "You were honest," Minghao says, "my apologies."

They leave the Nest and find a different cave in the valley to rest in overnight. The next day Jun lightheartedly repeats his questions, and Minghao answers slowly as they walk back to the city. Dino and Hoshi are still quiet and distant. Jun tries to ignore it, and pulls them into silly races along rice paddies or competitions to spot different birds instead. 

Minghao leaves them at the Bounty Office with a sack of coins and a formal farewell. Jun bows low over his hand. He can feel the Magic of his previous Oath release its claws as Minghao releases his hand. Hoshi still books rooms for all of them at a local inn like normal, but when he suggests they split up to explore the city and run errands instead of they're normal group celebration Jun agrees and gives the Kwon brothers their space. 

He visits a local post office and pens a formal message in careful calligraphy to attach to a nondescript hawk. In it, he proposes an alliance between the Human Empire and the Sichuan Elves, to be formalized through the betrothal of the Imperial Eighth Prince Xu Minghao to the Sichuan Heir Apparent Wen Junhui.

**Author's Note:**

> ;D


End file.
